USA

March 20, 2008

Police arrested about a dozen antiwar protesters blocking the entrance to the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington Monday in one of a number of nationwide acts of civil disobedience planned on the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.

The National Archives said it will make public a record of Hillary Rodham Clinton's activities as first lady. Not releasing the material had become an issue in the presidential campaign. Some 11,000 pages of daily schedules will be available at President Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., as well as online.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced a plan Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn., to incorporate greater flexibility into the No Child Left Behind law, which is up for renewal. The administration's latest response to criticism of the law would allow a select group of up to 10 states to dispense different sanctions based on the degree to which they miss annual progress goals. Spellings called for educational "triage" for the neediest students.

The Federal Communications Commission closed bidding Tuesday for rights to use portions of the publicly owned airwaves. Bidders pledged a record-setting $19.6 billion, but the winners won't be identified for at least three weeks. No one submitted the minimum bid needed for a proposed emergency communications network.

Jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, chairman of the New Orleans library system, announced plans this week to rebuild the hurricane-damaged network to reflect the city's unique character, beginning with construction of a $10 million branch to house recordings and reviews. Other branches planned during the next 10 years include one focused on local cuisine and another on architecture, which will salute city artisans.

In a much-watched initial public offering, Visa Inc., the world's largest credit-card processor, sold 406 million shares at $44 apiece Tuesday to raise nearly $18 billion. It was the most lucrative IPO in US history.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick rejected Tuesday a nonbinding call for his resignation by the city council, which voted 7 to 1 for a resolution that amounted to a "no confidence" vote. Kilpatrick has been accused of lying under oath about an affair he had with former chief of staff Christine Beatty.